Daniel Brotman Lab

Research in the Daniel Brotman Lab focuses on aspects of hospital medicine such as quality improvement, patient satisfaction and perioperative medicine. We recently conducted a cohort study of hypertensive African Americans to examine how access to care, treatment ambivalence and medication non-adherence affect long-term mortality.

Felicia Hill-Briggs Lab

Research in the Felicia Hill-Briggs Lab focuses on assessment methods and clinical intervention in behavioral medicine, with an emphasis on patient self-management and outcomes in ethnic minorities with chronic diseases. We are interested in the application of problem-solving and decision-making models to self-management and health behavior change. Our recent research involves examining problem-solving training for cardiovascular disease risk self-management in African Americans with type 2 diabetes. We also have a long-standing interest in cognitive/neuropsychological processes in chronic diseases, translation of research to clinical practice settings and community-based settings, and evidence-based behavioral medicine.

J. Hunter Young Lab

Research in the J. Hunter Young Lab focuses on the genetic epidemiology and physiology of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, especially hypertension, diabetes and obesity. Current activities include an observational study of hypertension among African Americans; a genetic epidemiology study of worldwide cardiovascular disease susceptibility patterns; and several population-based observational studies of cardiovascular and renal disease. A recent focus group study found that changes in housing and city policies might lead to improved environmental health conditions for public housing residents.

Laura Gitlin Lab

Research in the Laura Gitlin Lab focuses on aging in place, family caregiving, nonpharmacologic approaches to dementia care and functional disability. We study quality-of-life improvements for people with dementia or functional difficulties and their caregivers, including adaptive aids such as assistive devices and environmental modifications. Other research investigates disparities in mental health in older African Americans undergoing treatment for depression.

Lee Bone Lab

Research in the Lee Bone Lab uses community-based participatory approaches to promote health in underserved urban African-American populations. We conduct randomized clinical trials on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer detection and control in order to test the success of community interventions. We focus in particular on making interventions sustainable and on implementing electronic education to improve communication.

The Lisa Cooper Lab is dedicated to researching patient-centered interventions for improving health outcomes and overcoming racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Our primary focus is on the factors of physician communication skills and cultural competence training, patient shared decision-making and self-management skills training. Recently, we have explored patient-centered depression care for African Americans, tactics for improving patient-physician communication about management of hypertension, and reducing ethnic and social disparities in health. In addition, we are currently researching racial disparities in cardiovascular health outcomes for patients living in Baltimore.

Lisa Yanek Lab

Research in the Lisa Yanek Lab focuses on cardiovascular disease in families and risk factor modification. Recently, we conducted a study to determine the association of lean versus fat mass with fitness in healthy, overweight and obese African Americans from families with early-onset coronary disease.

Rasika Mathias Lab

Research in the Rasika Mathias Lab focuses on the genetics of asthma in people of African ancestry. Our work led to the first genomewide association study of its kind in 2009. Currently, we are analyzing the whole-genome sequence of more than 1,000 people of African ancestry from the Consortium on Asthma among African-ancestry Populations in the Americas (CAAPA). CAAPA’s goal is to use whole-genome sequencing to expand our understanding of how genetic variants affect asthma risk in populations of African ancestry and to provide a public catalog of genetic variation for the scientific community. We’re also involved in the study of coronary artery disease though the GeneSTAR Program, which aims to identify mechanisms of atherogenic vascular diseases and attendant comorbidities.